Commentationes biologicae, Volume 31, Issue 3

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Results 1-3 of 4

Page 3The significance of these results and the comparison of the subspecies are
considered below. Results of statistical analysis The four subspecies considered
in the present study are morphologically so close and the skulls so variable that it
would be difficult to distinguish them without the aid of biometric analysis. Indeed,
it would be impossible to take a single skull without locality data and place it in
the correct group. Nordqvist (1899) commented on this variability when he
described P.

Page 4General size is so variable that it cannot give any indication as to the subspecies
of any single individual. In the statistical analysis P. h. ladogensis averaged a
little smaller than the other three populations. The basic color of the ringed seal is
very variable. However, the backside is usually dark grey or brown-grey in the
Saimaa and Bothnic seals, whereas it is almost black in the Ladoga seals. The
underside of the seals from the Bothnic region, the Arctic Ocean and White Sea,
and ...

Page 11These characteristics could then have become dominant. This process may have
been an influencing factor on the general robustness, size, and color of the
subspecies. The different development of the facial parts, i.e. the general
proportions of the skull, in the various subspecies is probably more the result of
natural selection and adaptation to the local environmental conditions.
Conclusion The four subspecies in the present study are quite variable and
difficult to distinguish without ...